ST. LOUIS – To make a long story short, Chris Young stands 6 feet 10 and is every inch an icicle.

He is the cold-blooded killer among the Padres' high-strung starting pitchers, a fellow uniquely suited – both physically and psychologically – to shoulder stress.

The former Princeton basketball star plays baseball with the cultivated cool of a Bogart character blown up to the size of a door frame. He is as impenetrable as Rick Blaine, as unflappable as Sam Spade and, more to the point, mostly unhittable.

“Chris Young has been an inspiration to me,” Padres pitcher Woody Williams said yesterday of a teammate 13 years younger. “Just his demeanor. There are no highs and no lows. He's very professional. I couldn't be happier if I had pitched this game.”

Williams gets to pitch tonight's Game 4 of this National League Division Series because of how well Young pitched yesterday's Game 3. With the Padres perched one loss from another St. Louis sweep in their best-of-five series, Young absorbed all of that playoff pressure without betraying for a moment that it might have been burdensome.

He pitched 6 2/3 shutout innings in the Padres' 3-1 victory, striking out nine and permitting no Cardinal past second base. Three times in three tries, Young retired St. Louis' fearsome Albert Pujols – twice on swinging strikes – and he so dominated the proceedings that Padres fans were left to wonder why he had not opened the series instead of the mercurial Jake Peavy.

“The big guy came up big,” said Mike Cameron, the Padres' center fielder.

Peavy is the Padres' titular ace and remains an extraordinary performer when his stars are properly aligned. David Wells is the staff's most accomplished pitcher and its most compelling personality. Still, both statistically and temperamentally, Young has been the Padres' most stable starter this year.

“He has the same demeanor going into every start – even spring training,” pitching coach Darren Balsley said.

Opposing hitters batted a league-low .206 against Young during the regular season. No team has mustered more than three runs against him in a single start in more than two months. In May, Young took a no-hitter into the eighth inning against Colorado. In September, he took a no-hitter into the ninth inning against Pittsburgh.

Yet Young has been so ridiculously dominant on the road that he has rendered home-field advantage a mixed blessing. Manager Bruce Bochy elected to save Young for Game 3 of the NLDS in part to exploit a road streak that has reached 25 starts without a loss – 10 victories, 15 no-decisions. In doing so, however, Bochy effectively limited Young to one appearance in the best-of-five series.

With Cardinals reigning Cy Young Award winner Chris Carpenter making his second start of the series tonight, hindsight says Bochy's decision could prove a decisive difference. For now, however, the Padres are grateful simply to have the big galoot on their side.

“When we got here the other day, he just seemed very focused,” catcher Mike Piazza said. “I remember at the workout yesterday, he was throwing some pitches and I said, 'Save your bullets for tomorrow.' . . .

“He's just an ultracompetitive guy. . . . And as you could tell by his performance today, he just took control of his game.”

Young's pregame persona is so grimly serious that his colleagues have learned to leave him alone. Most days, Young is known simply as “CY.” On the days he pitches, however, teammates often refer to him as “EY,” or “Evil CY.”

Imagine a better-adjusted Kevin Brown with a release point roughly 9 feet above the level of home plate. Then imagine the angst of trying to hit at that angle.

“He's tough,” Cardinals second baseman Ronnie Belliard conceded. “He's kind of hard to see. He throws every pitch from the same spot. You don't know what he's going to come with.”

Struggling to gain command of his fastball yesterday, Young beat the Cardinals primarily with his slider. In his previous start at Busch Stadium, he had concentrated on curveballs. The hallmark of Young's pitching is that the menu changes more than the man.

“I get excited, but I try not to let it affect me or try not to show too much emotion,” Young said. “It's just not my personality. I just want to stay even-keel and poised. I think that's the way I've always been.

“Obviously, as with all players, I have the nerves and I have the adrenaline and the anxiety, but I don't let it affect me. I don't let it dictate how I act or what I do. It's a challenge at times, but it's something I've had a lot of practice with going back to high school and playing college basketball. I think that's something that's helped prepare me for these kinds of situations.”

When Young becomes conscious that he's working too fast or too excited, he typically steps behind the mound to regroup mentally and rebalance his breathing. Then he climbs back to the summit of the mound and looks down on his prey from the vantage point of a vulture.

It doesn't always work, but it's almost always intimidating. If Chris Young's altitude affords him a built-in advantage, his attitude is what sets him apart.